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Customer Reviews of Blender

You Can't Judge a Book By It's (Exploitative) Cover!
Whaddya expect from a magazine from the guys at Maxim? To look at any of the covers of this mag (Paulina Rubio, Leann Rimes, Mariah, Janet Jackson, etc etc) you'd assume that this is a super-lightweight music mag. But in fact, this is a mag chock-full of info that is much better than Rolling Stone, starting to surpass Spin, and comparable to top British mags like Q and UnCut. PROS: They bring the same cheeky humor that they do to Maxim magazine; (believe it or not, there is more to Maxim than endless pinups of Anna Kournikouva!) They review a slew of CD's every month, accomodating lower-tier acts which might otherwise get no coverage; they have a section where they cover every CD in an act's career, letting you know what's worth buying (Stevie Wonder, Queen, Steely Dan being just a few of the subjects)
They've got tons of snarky little USA Today-like polls, factoids, news items, etc etc. Even their interviews with the cover pinups are fairly in-depth. CONS: Not exactly going to win any praise from NOW; still a bit too mainstream as far as the big interview stories are concerned. Would be nice to see some smaller acts get more coverage as Conor Oberst gets in the latest ish. I can't speak for the ordering delays: I'm just relating what's in the magazine. OVERALL: A fine, entertaining read that contains a lot of info that the true music lover can really use.

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This BLEND is getting tastier ...
It's strange that in the largest music market in the world, there were really no mainstream CD/music review magazine until BLENDER came along. BLENDER's main selling point is that there are over 100 reviews a month and for that alone, it's worth the inexpensive price of admission. The reviews are mostly concise and get to point - written by someone familiar with the singer/band and that genre.

As others have pointed out, there are some brilliant UK music pubs out there but it can get spendy to buy them at $7-$10 a pop when you'd rather be buying music. So, in one sense, BLENDER is a pale imitation of some of the UK mags but on the other hand, the UK music mag writers are also snobbier and more cynical. BLENDER is not so heavy-handed.

In our celebrity culture, we all want to know more about musicians/singers so, of course - there are feature stories with lots of photos. While it's not particularly indepth, at least the focus is generally on a new CD or new music coming versus their life as a celebrity. Most features are very short so if you're not interested, you can move right along. They are all informative and they have definitely moved away from the frat-boy mentality of MAXIM where style trumps substance.

Is BLENDER a great magazine? No. But if you want 100+ rock, pop, r&b, hip-hop, trip-hop reviews a month - it's worth the money. There are other genres that get short shrift but BLENDER is at least a good starting point.

How does it compare to the other well known music mags? ROLLING STONE is one of the better written magazines in America but frankly, it's not much of a music magazine - it's a lifetstyle magazine with music features. When BLENDER launched, they suddenly remembered they used to review LP'S/CD's so they added some but it's still sparse.

SPIN like it's name is apt to SPIN widly from whenever they hire a new editor in chief. Right now, it's trying desperately to be more hip than BLENDER and going punk & goth & metal & neoalternative but it's pretty much just a confusing mess.

There are two new mags that are exellent for those whose tastes are more Adult Album Alternative or Trip Hop - check out TRACKS and PASTE (both avail from Amazon) though it's really too early to tell where they are going so far.

So, pretty much by default, BLENDER is the best "general" music review magazine published in America.

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My favorite music magazine
This magazine has it all. I have read and subscribe to Rolling Stone and Spin, and this is a true music lovers magazine. They always have at least 200 CD's reviewed, which is great and very helpful in buying music, and have great articles on all of the hottest stars. It takes a great humorous approach to alot of things, and has alot of ads for popular musicians, which i myself like to tear out and collect. My favorite group in the world is Radiohead, and they have never failed to make less than great article on them. They use the 1-5 star review scale, as rolling stone does. They also have articles on people's accumulated music collections, and also have reviews on a particular artist's every album. For instance, in the July issue, they looked at Prince, and reviewed every album, and categorized them into "Must Haves" (sign o' the times, controversy) all the way down to "Just for Fans" (rave un2 the joy fantastic). This is a true music person's magazine, although they do use alot of sex to sell their magazine. But who's complaining about that? Its a great music magazine, and if you have one music magazine, let this one to be it. The only other complaint i have is that it is Bimonthly, so i have to wait longer to get it!